


Gone Too Soon

by summerrain24601



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-15
Updated: 2017-04-15
Packaged: 2018-10-19 08:56:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10636551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/summerrain24601/pseuds/summerrain24601
Summary: Not all heroes live to see what happens after they save the world.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is mostly based on the tavern song Inquisitor from Trespasser, and a random YouTube comment. This is an AU ending, all other events in-game happened as per canon.

Her companions had gathered below where she'd fought Corypheus, each nursing their own injuries. Even Morrigan had stayed after her fight with the fake archdemon. But the Inquisitor was nowhere to be found. 

"Inquisitor! Are you alive?" Cassandra called. They remained silent for a moment, but there was no answer. Cassandra shared a worried look with Varric, and together with Vivienne and Blackwall they slowly climbed the steps to the final battlefield. The Breach was closed, which must have meant that Corypheus was dead. But what had happened to her? 

There, they found her. What was left of her. The young elf's skin had gone deathly pale, and she laid in a pool of blood that was starting to seep into the rocks under her. They froze at the top of the steps, not wanting to believe what they saw. After a moment, Vivienne pushed past the others and fell to her knees at Ellana's side, her hands glowing softly as she tried to work what healing magic she knew, with not a thought spared for the blood-soaked ground that would surely stain her robes. Slowly, the other three gathered round her. After a moment, she sat back and shook her head slowly. 

"Shit…" Varric muttered softly, his voice breaking. 

"Maker, take her to your side," Cassandra said quietly, her voice gentile. "Or, perhaps it is her own gods that look after her now." She gently lifted their friend into her arms and made her way back down the stairs to where the others were waiting. Vivienne got to her feet and followed, once again not sparing any attention for her blood-soaked robes. Cassandra looked down at the elf's face, then sighed. 

"Oh no..." came a soft voice from the back of the group. The others parted to give Lead Scout Harding a clear path, and the dwarf gasped softly. One hand covered her mouth in her surprise and shock, and she couldn't look away. "It's alright Inquisitor. You've done enough," she said gently, her voice choked with grief. "We'll take it from here." She looked up at Cassandra. "I'll ride ahead and let Skyhold know. They'll want time to prepare... And let her clan know." She slipped back out of the crowd, and nobody noticed the tears that slipped down her cheeks as she seemed to blend back into the shadows.

The mood was somber as they made their way back to the fortress. Cassandra carried her the whole way, she wouldn’t let anyone take her. The Seeker felt that it was her duty to bring the elf home. She heard the whispered conversations between the others, but she didn't listen. Instead, one thought filled her mind. Cullen. He had loved her. He would be broken when his lover returned dead. And Leliana, who had lost too much already only to lose another. 

They reached the gates, and after a moment they arranged themselves in a triangle of sorts, with Cassandra carrying Lavellan's body at the front, Varric to her direct right and Dorian to her direct left. The others filled in behind her. Some of the others had shed tears to their lost friend on the way back, but Cassandra had not. 

Skyhold was silent as they entered, despite the number of people gathered. There was evidence of a party, before word had spread of their leader's death. Now, the Inquisition mourned. As Cassandra climbed the steps to the second part of the main courtyard, she saw the Inquisitor's advisors waiting. Cullen, Leliana, and Josephine waited on the landing of the second set of stairs, the ones that led to the main hall. Cassandra stopped when she reached them, looking once more down at Lavellan's face. 

"Forgive me," she said softly, more to Cullen than the others. "I could not protect her." She lifted her gaze to meet his, and then she finally released her friend. Lavellan was handed to her lover, who carried her inside. Leliana glanced at the rest of the Inquisitor's traveling companions, noticing the distinct lack of one elven mage. Had he not noticed her as she bled out on the stones, or had she been dead before he could reach her? They would never know. Solas had been gone before they discovered her body. 

Cassandra turned to Vivienne. "You should change," she suggested, glancing down at the blood stains on the lower half of the mage's robe. Vivienne looked down, as if noticing for the first time that her robes were unclean.

"Too right, my dear," she said quietly, the usual bluster gone from her voice. She turned and went through a door after they entered the main hall, intending to do just that. Cassandra made her way to Leliana's side and put a hand on her friend's shoulder. The Right and Left Hands of the previous Divine looked at each other for a moment before looking back over the gathered people.

"Have you written to her clan?" Cassandra asked. 

"I have," Leliana responded sadly. "They lost so many at the Conclave, and now…" She sighed softly, shaking her head.

"I know, my friend," the Seeker responded. 

"We will need to find a new Inquisitor…" the spymaster began.

"Do we?" Cassandra questioned. "The Inquisition has done what it meant to do. The Breach is closed and Corypheus is dead. Perhaps this is a good time to put down our swords."

"You might be right," Leliana conceded. "We will need to discuss this, all of us." She caught Josephine's eye, and the Ambassador made her way over to them. Cullen had placed the Inquisitor's body on a table that had been prepared after word had reached Skyhold. A black cloth covered the table and reached the floor on all sides as Cullen laid Lavellan's body on it. He had folded her hands over her chest and brushed her golden hair from her face. His hands gripped the edge of the table and his shoulders were hunched. Leliana walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Cullen…" He shook his head and sighed.

"Corypheus is dead, but this doesn't feel like victory," he said softly, his voice breaking. "Is it worth it if this is the cost?" Leliana didn't say anything. Ten years ago, she had lost her own love to the archdemon of the fifth Blight. She still didn't like talking about it. 

Through the silence, Skyhold's minstrel Maryden's voice began to float through the air. _"Inquisitor, take your breath. A soldier, a savior. A hero, a leader. Inquisitor fought for our souls…"_ It was a slow song, and after the first few lines the hall was full of soft sniffling as people succumbed to the combination of the song and their own emotions. A child's wailing cry was heard over the minstrel's voice, and even her voice was thick with sorrow. Leliana found herself remembering a song her own Dalish love had sang once. A Dalish song for the dead, Mahariel had said. It had actually been one that Leliana knew from before, oddly enough. When Maryden finished her song, the spymaster's lilting voice danced through the hall with no accompaniment. None of them had heard her sing before, and the haunting melody was made even more so by the odd elven words and the echoing chamber. 

Once her song was done, Leliana had to run a hand over her cheeks. There was no shame in tears, she had been told once. But she had never truly understood the words before now. 

"We will be waiting in the war room when you are ready to join us," she said gently, turning her back on the Commander and joining the other two. It wasn't too much longer before he joined the women.

"If the Inquisition is to continue, we will need a new Inquisitor," Leliana said after he joined them.

"Do we truly need one?" Cassandra asked. "The previous Inquisition disbanded after its goal was complete. Have we not done what we set out to do a year ago?"

"We have," Leliana agreed.

"Then perhaps it is time for the Inquisition to end," Josephine said softly. They glanced at Cullen, who sighed again.

"I've no objections," he said after a moment. 

"Then we are agreed," Cassandra said sadly. "The Inquisition is disbanded." The others nodded and filed back out into the main hall. Cullen stopped Leliana after Cassandra and Josephine had left.

"Does it ever get easier?" he asked sadly. 

"It's been ten years, and I still think about her every day," Leliana admitted. "I keep wondering what could have gone differently. But Vhena was always a selfless woman." She looked up at him. "She was a lot like Ellana, actually. Perhaps that is what the Maker looks for in His heroes. The selflessness required to sacrifice themselves for the good of the world." Cullen sighed but didn't respond, and they followed the other two back to the main hall.


End file.
